THOMASVILLE — Scott Chastain grew up pumping gas at his dad’s service station on Pinetree Boulevard, where he learned the value of hard work and knowing the community and customers. Those lessons have served him well in his own successful businesses, and he’ll apply those same values as a District 2 City Council member. 

Chastain announced his candidacy during a local listening session on Dawson Street. A series of listening sessions will be hosted in neighborhoods throughout District 2 to give voters the opportunity to share their concerns and their hopes for the future of our city, Chastain said. 

“Thomasville has some very immediate challenges like stormwater runoff, as well some more futuristic challenges around utilities that I believe my experience and interests will help solve,” he said. “We know we need to build some bridges between groups and apply some innovative, entrepreneurial thinking to the challenges ahead and that’s what I love to do.” 

As a landscape architect and entrepreneur, Scott has been instrumental in bringing some of Thomasville’s most beloved places into being. With his wife Katie, he bought and revived The Bookshelf and made it a Broad Street institution. In collaboration with the Thomasville Center for the Arts, he recruited a nationally renowned team to create the conceptual plans for the Creative District/Ritz Amphitheater and then worked with City staff to make First Friday a reality. 

Chastain’s leadership in the community has been recognized state-wide as he was selected as a Leadership Georgia Class of 2017 member and 2019 Program Chair. Chastain currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Thomasville-Thomas County Chamber of Commerce, where he has chaired Leadership Thomasville for the past three years. He also served on the Board of Directors for Hands on Thomas County, as well as several city boards, including Planning and Zoning, Mainstreet, and Tree and Landscape. 

Chastain currently owns and operates Everfan, a local costume manufacturing company and online retailer to promote imaginative play for kids and adults. Scott and Katie have also been working with schools and community organizations to help students solve real-world problems and develop 21st century skills through their instructional technology company, tisktask.org. 

“We have started all of these businesses to develop better people and places,” Chastain said. “Thomasville has some incredible talent already doing impressive things in our community and I want to make sure the city is supporting those people.”

“I’ve been involved deeply in the parks and recreation programs for our city because those are the things that will bring our kids back here in 20 years. We have had some visionary leadership over the years that helped Thomasville be the successful small town it is today. But I don’t want to rest on those laurels. I want to continue to make Thomasville a world-class small town,” Chastain said.

Chastain attended Thomasville City Schools through middle school and is a proud graduate of Thomas County Central High School. He graduated from Auburn University with a Masters in Landscape Architecture and a Bachelors of Science in Environmental Design. Before returning to Thomasville to run his own Landscape Architecture firm, he worked as a designer at Olin Partnership in Philadelphia. At Olin he worked on a variety of award-winning planning and urban design projects, from a master plan for the University of Virginia School of Architecture to a new campus for the Brooklyn Nets and a Cayman Islands resort.

“I am running because I want a town that will provide a great quality of life for my kids and their children, with strong opportunities for them to work and play. And I want those opportunities accessible to all of our young people,” Chastain said.

For more information about upcoming listening sessions or other campaign information, visit chastainforthomasville.com.